Original Item: Only One Available. This is an excellent example of a WWI issue M1915 Portuguese corrugated steel helmet. The M1915 helmet was the primary combat helmet used by the Armed Forces of Portugal during the WWI era, and was not replaced until the 1930s, when the British Brodie based Mk1 helmet was adopted. This is one of the most difficult First World War helmets to source.

The M1915 was a lightweight helmet designed by British Major J. MacIntosh and produced in Birmingham, England. The corrugated bowl design was possibly to deflect bullets or to increase the strength of the shell, but the exact motivation is unclear. Unfortunately these helmets proved ineffective in the trenches and the British sold large quantities to Portugal. These were originally painted a gray-blue color but these helmets often were repainted green for service in the post-war years, as this example has been. There is also a unit marking on the front of the helmet, but we have not been able to identify it.

This example is in excellent condition with the majority of its original green paint and the leather chinstrap seated over the brim, a rare sight as most of these around today are shells. The interior retains the complete wool lining with leather sweatband and cork spacer system. There is even an inscription on the lining, which is faint but appears to read:

35
H. Felizar[do?]

This would make for a good research project, as there were very few soldiers in the Portuguese Army during World War I.

A hard to find helmet from the WWI era.

The Kingdom of Portugal had been allied with England since 1373, and thus the Republic of Portugal was an ally of the United Kingdom. However, Portugal remained neutral from the start of World War I in 1914 until early 1916. In that time there were many hostile engagements with Germany. Portugal wanted to meet British requests for aid and protect its colonies in Africa, causing clashes with German troops in the south of Portuguese Angola, which bordered German South West Africa, in 1914 and 1915.

Tensions between Germany and Portugal also arose as a result of German U-boat warfare, which sought to blockade the United Kingdom, at the time the most important market for Portuguese products. Ultimately this led to the confiscation of German ships interned in Portuguese ports in 1916, to which Germany reacted by declaring war on 9 March 1916. In total, from 1916 to 1918, about 91 Portuguese ships were sunk and five damaged by German U-boats, causing at least 170 casualties.

About 12,000 Portuguese troops died during World War I, including Africans who served in its armed forces on the colonial front. Civilian deaths by some estimates exceeded 220,000: 82,000 caused by food shortages and 138,000 by the Spanish flu.